New Memories, Fears, Additions and Random Thoughts

Wow, it's the last day of February.  Where did the month go?  Time is just flying by these days.  I haven't taken the time to write about life or stop for much these days, except to sleep at night.  I'm not complaining though.  Sometimes that is just the way of the world. 

But I wanted to reflect on the things we've done and gotten to see in the past few weeks.  So here I go:

New Memories:

(1) We took a trip to see family about two weeks ago.  I had the chance to see several aunts, uncles, cousins and relatives that I had not seen in over two years.  A few of them had never even met Vivian before.  We all had a huge family dinner (about 35 people) at a local seafood restaurant.  It was a lot of fun.  I give credit to my parents for organizing and arranging it all with the place.  Vivian had a great time playing with her cousins as you'll see in these photos:











(2) During that trip to see family, I had a few nostalgic moments.   I was thinking a lot about my two grandfathers who passed away years ago.  My parents have two eulogies of them both hanging on their walls - one is a poem I wrote for one; the other was a letter my brother wrote and read at the other's funeral.  In addition, I visited my grandmother in the nursing home and it saddened me to know that she may not be with us for very much longer.  My dad and his siblings are selling her house.   She spent over 60 years in that place so it's weird to know that someone else will be living there soon.  I had the opportunity to go through it and pick out a few things from her kitchen and bedrooms for sentimental reasons.  (I'm actually working on a blog post about that now.)  

While chatting during that visit, my sister in law Karen tells me that she's been playing around on the site ancestry.com to work on the family tree for both sides of her family.   Talking to her and being around my older relatives makes me wish I had talked more to my grandparents and taken notes about their stories, lives and mannerisms as I was growing up and while they were younger.  Their way of life was so different than today's age and I really should have done a better job of finding a way to preserve it for my daughter.  Even though my two grandmothers are not always coherent when they speak, I hope to explore options of talking to their siblings and children to build my own family tree that I can share with Vivian someday.








We love you Maw-Maw.

New Fears:

(3) Vivian has a new phobia: bugs.  Not just any bug either.  ALL BUGS.  Flies, caterpillars, bees, dragonflies, mosquitos, millipedes, ants, and just anything related that flies or crawls and creeps around.  On Saturday a fly flew into the car and she went into full on hysterics - crying real tears, screaming, kicking her feet.  Kirk was driving and I was sitting in the front passenger seat.  We rolled the windows down.  We tried to soothe her that it would not bite her or harm her.  Nothing seemed to work.  Nothing.  Sigh!   A friend told me it's important not to overlook this fear even though it seems silly to us as parents.  She's really upset over this.  It's going to be a long spring and summer season with these kind of episodes.  I hope things improve or that I can at least find a way to help my daughter cope with this fear. 


(4) During the recent visit to see family, I noticed that everyone (myself included) is getting older and that the time is growing shorter.  Seeing and realizing this reminds me of my own biggest fear: Death.  I'm afraid to die.  There I said it.  I'm typing it out loud.  I'm scared of death.  I know I'm not alone in this fear but sometimes I feel like I am.  I suppose it's because of my uncertainties of what lies after death and my religious confusion and lack of faith on most days.  What can we do to help relief these kind of deep fears though?  Death is inevitable.  The circle of life and all that jazz.  Maybe that's why I'm blogging and writing less though these days.  I miss it yet I'm out enjoying more in my surroundings. 



New Additions (...How $2 quickly turned into $100...):

Speaking of enjoying my surroundings more, our family visited a Renaissance Fair over the weekend.  We saw all kinds of crazy sites.  And I'm not just talking about the people dressed in strange costumes, which included a giant wizard, a Capt. Jack Sparrow copycat and a woman with black horns and black wings.  Walking around we also saw real elephants, camels, a puppet show, Irish step dancers and all the typical greasy foods that are hard to resist.  I stopped as I past a game booth that said, "Frog Catapult."  Something about it caught my eye.  So I entered.

The cost was $1 for three throws. The object of the game was to use a hammer to catapult a plastic frog into a basket. The winner got to choose a goldfish. I didn't come close for the first three throws. So I paid another dollar and played again.  Kirk wasn't interested in playing so it was up to me. Two more throws and I missed it again. Finally on my sixth and last throw, the frog went into the basket.  Yes!  Victory!   Cue music "We are the champions....."   So Vivian got to choose a fish from their tank. 

(5) So yes, we have a new addition to our family: A goldfish! 


But with a face as happy as this (see below photos), you'd have done the same thing!







Vivian  proudly carried around the prize fish all over the fairgrounds.  She never let that fish go.  She seemed to flaunt it and hold it up high as we continued to walk around.  It was quite comical.  We received all kinds of stares and comments about this fish.  I'll admit.... I LOVED IT!  I felt like the rock star mom who won my kid a fish at the fair!  I was awesome!  Oh yeah!

That awesome feeling wore off in the car ride home though as we realized that we had no place to put this fish and no holding tank for it. Not very smart thinking of me, the mommy but oh well.... A quick trip to the pet store and we bought everything we needed, including two other goldfish.   And that my friends is how a two dollar prize fish can end up costing you one hundred dollars.

But again, just look at this happy face (below):




Now my only hope is that our new pets - "Shark Bait," "Diva" and "Sassy" will be around for awhile and we won't have to rename them Dead Fish #1, 2 and 3.   We'll keep you posted on their progress.  So far they are thriving but it's only been one day! 


Other Random Thoughts:

(6) While traveling to and from Louisiana, I had a few hours of uninterrupted time reading in the car.  I'm half-way through the book "The Happiness Project," which I'm really, really enjoying.  The author says a few things in the book that I find very interesting that I want to share here:

- "Fake it until you feel it."  (She's not talking about sex either, just general life happenings.)  Sometimes we don't feel like doing things but we just have to.  So if we act the way we want to feel and give it a try, we can often surprise ourselves!

- "What you do every day matters more than what you do once in awhile."  For example, my husband is not one to give me gifts or flowers.  But I feel loved by him every day in his words and his actions.  That does say much more to me than a box of chocolates or a diamond necklace ever would.

- "Be True To Who You Are.  Acknowledge what you enjoy not just what you wish you enjoyed"  So true!  I love the idea of knitting or gardening but it's just not who I am! 

- "Lighten up.  Be silly.  Joke more.  Start new family traditions and have family theme nights to break up the boring routine."  I love the ideas the author discusses in her book!

- "Everything is beautiful.  But some things appeal more to us than others."  One man's treasure is another person's junk. 

The book has also given me some great suggestions on how I can declutter my house, organize my pictures and other memorabilia and has my brain churning on some special gifts that I want to put together for my friends.  I love it when a book has me excited and ready to take action in my own life! 


What's happening in your world these days?  I am looking forward to springtime.  Although here in Florida, it already feels like the season has begun!